One of these men imagined himself to be an operator in St. Paul; that he
had a train going out and one coming in on the same line. He was
vigorously tapping away on one of the walls of his cell when a night guard
asked him what troubled him. “This,” said the prisoner in all seriousness,
“is a telegraph station in St. Paul.” “Well, you had better cut this out
and go to bed; the prisoners can’t sleep with all this fuss going on.”
“Fuss nothing,” angrily retorted the prisoner, “I’m attending strictly to
business! The Governor is on one of those trains and if there is a wreck
there will be trouble!”
The captain of the night watch immediately sent for the deputy warden to
suppress the “operator,” who, when he arrived, and after a sharp command
to be quiet, without glancing up from his “key” ordered the deputy to go
away and “not interrupt him.” Of course this rejoinder caused the other
inmates to burst out laughing, and no amount of discipline could check
their merriment. By this time it was necessary to open the cell door and
take the operator bodily from his “key” and transfer him to the
observation ward at the solitary. Just as he was relieved from “duty” he
shrieked at the deputy, “You will catch h— if those two trains come
together!”